Dr Chinmay Pandya outlines the philosophy of self-embellishment and social upliftment

Dr Chinmay Pandya, pro-vice chancellor, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya (DSVV) and a key mentor of AWGP outlined the two major philosophies of AWGP — self embellishment and social upliftment during his recent Dubai visit.

According to him, following these two philosophies of self-embellishment, which is nothing but ‘making a good human being’ and social upliftment, which is ‘making society a good place to live' will make an individual a better human being. “In the current world scenario, we have noticed that more wealth brings more dissatisfaction. This being the case, there is a need for an approach like this, which has become more paramount as compared to the earlier days. The real transformation can only come from within. It cannot come from outside. Unless people change from the inside, there could be no sustainable solution. The idea is very simple. It is how each of us can play a role to make society a good place to live. The nature of problems that bothers an individual is more or less the same across the world. If a person feels peace and harmony inside, they will find peace and harmony everywhere. We want to create purity of mind and perfection in society. We want to make society a better place through the individual.”

AWGP, with around 150 million members across the world has over 5000 centres in more than 80 countries, promotes scientific spirituality and inspires to reform self, family and society. Since its inception, AWGP has targeted all its energy and focused on awakening the divinity within the individual. The guiding philosophy is ‘righteous knowledge’ and ‘selfless service for society’. AWGP clubs the teachings of the ancient seers with modern scientific teachings to put forth the concept of ‘scientific spirituality'.

Dr Pandya is also the editor of the Dev Sanskriti, an interdisciplinary international journal that addresses a broad range of Indian intellectual interests, including Vedic philosophy, culture, psychology, communication, education, Ayurveda, Indian and eastern studies and religious pedagogies. He is chairperson of the International Festival of Yoga, Culture and Spirituality and has convened more than seventy national and international colloquia at DSVV on issues ranging from the rights of indigenous people to water desalination. He is responsible for ethos, academic rigour and policy implementation at DSVV. He has presented papers, addressed symposia and lectured at the United Nations (UNO) Headquarters in Vienna, Universities of Cambridge, Latvia and Chicago; Lambeth Palace, Royal Methodist Hall, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT); the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM); the Indian Medical Association; the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Nuclear Fuels Corporation (NFC), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India. He has also represented India in the Inter-Governmental meeting of UNESCO on the issue of intangible cultural heritage, served on the board of trustees of the India Development Foundation (IDF) and is also a member of the prestigious National Cultural Fund (NCF) of the Ministry of Culture, India. He is also one of the judges of the globally prestigious Templeton Prize Committee.